Book Recommendations for those who ask you about the Catholic Faith

[T_More]

Aside from the Bible & the Catechism, what books do you feel present the best case for the Catholic faith if someone who was curious about the Church asked you what they should read? Here are a few of mine with comments:

Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma-Ludwig Ott (Can be intense for some)

Faith of Our Fathers-James Cardinal Gibbons (Easy to read and a timeless presentation.)

Faith of the Early Fathers-William Jurgens (Much less intimidating than the full Ante Nicene set)

Catholic Christianity-Peter Kreeft (Just as the cover states, a Catechism of the Catechism)

Reasons to Believe/Signs of Life-Scott Hahn (Simple to read, from a converts perspective)

 

[ComeHome2Rome]

Besides the Catechism of the Catholic Church & the Catholic Bible, I like to suggest:

John Salza’s books The Biblical Basis for the Papacy, The Biblical Basis for the Eucharist & the Biblical Basis for the Catholic Church

&

Matthew Kelly’s book Rediscovering Catholicism

 

[sedonaman]

The Science Before Science: A Guide to Thinking in the 21st Century, by Anthony Rizzi.

 

[regression]

While I have not read it, I have many people recommend “Catholicism for Dummies”.

 

[FightingFat]

Dont you think the CCC is a bad way to start for someone not a Catholic already? I mean it is a book of doctrine and written in very dense language which really needs to be unpacked.

 

[novusCatholic]

Dont you think the CCC is a bad way to start for someone not a Catholic already? I mean it is a book of doctrine and written in very dense language which really needs to be unpacked.

One of the first things that I did after becoming interested in Catholicism was purchase a copy of the Cathecism of the Catholic Church. It’s definetely not a quick read and is much more than simply a summary of the faith, but if you trully are interested, then it really does answer you questions. It’s right there in black and white. I think that it is written in a way that is easy to read and is organized with good indexing and references.

The next book that I purchased was Catholicism For Dummies, as mentioned above. The two books went well together. I would read about a topic in the Dummies book, then go a little deeper in the Cathecism.

 

[FightingFat]

The next book that I purchased was Catholicism For Dummies, as mentioned above. The two books went well together. I would read about a topic in the Dummies book, then go a little deeper in the Cathecism.

I like that idea, sounds very reasonable!

 

[sedonaman]

Dont you think the CCC is a bad way to start for someone not a Catholic already? I mean it is a book of doctrine and written in very dense language which really needs to be unpacked.

I disagree. I recommend that those interested in knowing what the Church teaches to read the CCC first. It contains basic beliefs taken from the Bible and references those beliefs back to the Bible. And talk about “dense language”, consider this: what individual could read the Bible and come away knowing what is in the CCC? Rather than the CCC, it is the Bible that needs to be “unpacked”. Just to take one example, I encountered an individual once who claimed he found abortion justified by the Bible. His reasoning went something like this: “God created man and breathed into him the breath of life. Therefore, something isn’t alive unless it is breathing.”

 

[Cat]

I think that the books recommended so far are rather “heavy” for those who are merely expressing curiousity about the Catholic Church.

I am a convert to the Catholic Church from evangelical Protestantism. I recommend the following books:

Evangelical Is Not Enough, by Thomas Howard–this is the BEST book to give an evangelical Protestant, not only because it is beautifully-written for evangelicals, but also because of who Thomas Howard is–any evangelical will respect him and his sister.

Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic, by David Currie–excellent for “separatist” Protestant denominations, most of which are from fundamentalist denominations (some Baptists, many Pentecostals, a lot of non-denoms).

The Lamb’s Supper, by Scott Hahn. Actually, any book by Dr. Hahn is good for Protestants, especially Calvinist Protestants (Presbyterian, Reformed, some Baptist denominations).

The Catholic Mystique, by Jennifer Ferrara, an excellent book for women who are into feminism and equal rights. My daughter converted shortly after reading this book.

 

[TimothyH]

Theology for Beginners by Sheed.